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Please I need a report from Utah

Creakyknees

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Hello Thetrailboss I have a trip scheduled for Snowbird at the end of January. The weather doesn't look good. A forecast high of 45 deg. for next Monday. What is the word on the street out in Snowbird, should I bring my grass skis? Is it going to get colder anytime soon?
 
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thetrailboss

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Last weekend was really good. We're really close to great cover and conditions. Unfortunately, you are right that we are going to be stuck with a blocking ridge over the next ten days or so according to Wasatch Weather Weenies:

http://wasatchweatherweenies.blogspot.com/

They are saying 6" of snow during that timeframe in Alta. That's it.

Are you going to be skiing powder and getting face shots? No. Is there some damn good skiing? Yes. Even when it is bad at Alta-Bird, it is still better than most places.

I don't think there is going to be a dramatic warm up. The snow will settle....we're at 68" base at Snowbird.

I'd also follow this site for good short term information:

http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/slc/snow/mtnwx/mtnForecast.php
 

St. Bear

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Things aren't that bad....


Sent from my iPhone using AlpineZone

[h=1]June-uary[/h]Wednesday, January 21, 2015 at 7:28 am
Summary:
Dry conditions to continue for the rest of this week with a substantial warming trend as high pressure takes total control. Near record high temps likely by early next week.
Details:
High pressure is in control now, but it will strengthen and shift overhead through the week and by late weekend / early next week, we’ll be looking at near record highs. Today the forecasted high for the town of Alta is 29F. By Sunday, that high reaches 44F. On Monday, current forecast is for a high of 51F up on the mountain. Full on Spring skiing!
This ridge is almost summer-like in how it looks in models. Adding to that summer feel is that middle of next week (late Tuesday and Wednesday), the models depict a cutoff low will move into the desert southwest from the south and spread moisture north into Utah. It looks remarkably like our typical monsoonal flows we see in July and August. It will bring a chance for precipitation to the region, but because of its warm origins, snow levels could easily be above 8,000 feet. I’m not expecting much from this feature at this time.
Long range:
After our “monsoonal” moisture surge next week, we return to ridging to close out January. Good riddance! Right now, the GFS has been very consistent in moving a trough into the west coast that could bring us a series of stronger systems. This is outside the range of the 10-day ECMWF, but there are a few Euro ensembles that support this. All January, long-range pattern changes failed to come to fruition — so you’ll understand if I’m not ready to climb aboard on this idea yet. But for right now, it is our only hope.
 

thetrailboss

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[h=1]June-uary[/h]Wednesday, January 21, 2015 at 7:28 am
Summary:
Dry conditions to continue for the rest of this week with a substantial warming trend as high pressure takes total control. Near record high temps likely by early next week.
Details:
High pressure is in control now, but it will strengthen and shift overhead through the week and by late weekend / early next week, we’ll be looking at near record highs. Today the forecasted high for the town of Alta is 29F. By Sunday, that high reaches 44F. On Monday, current forecast is for a high of 51F up on the mountain. Full on Spring skiing!
This ridge is almost summer-like in how it looks in models. Adding to that summer feel is that middle of next week (late Tuesday and Wednesday), the models depict a cutoff low will move into the desert southwest from the south and spread moisture north into Utah. It looks remarkably like our typical monsoonal flows we see in July and August. It will bring a chance for precipitation to the region, but because of its warm origins, snow levels could easily be above 8,000 feet. I’m not expecting much from this feature at this time.
Long range:
After our “monsoonal” moisture surge next week, we return to ridging to close out January. Good riddance! Right now, the GFS has been very consistent in moving a trough into the west coast that could bring us a series of stronger systems. This is outside the range of the 10-day ECMWF, but there are a few Euro ensembles that support this. All January, long-range pattern changes failed to come to fruition — so you’ll understand if I’m not ready to climb aboard on this idea yet. But for right now, it is our only hope.

It may be a bit cooler at Jackson, but I don't think it will be that much cooler.....
 

thetrailboss

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So I just checked the NOAA Forecast for my place in SLC....which is usually quite a bit warmer than Alta:

http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClic...ite=SLC&lat=40.7386&lon=-111.859#.VMBBSUfF-Sp

They're saying Monday's high at my place will be 48 F; the NOAA for Alta is saying 50 F. I doubt that it will be THAT warm up there, but it does indeed look like a warm up....not too drastic, but a warm up. I don't have anything further out.
 

St. Bear

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Pulled the trigger for Jackson in the beginning of the week, then back to SLC. Itinerary looks like:
1/25 - Jackson Hole
1/26 - Jackson Hole
1/27 - Grand Targhee
1/28 - Snowbasin
1/29 - Snowbird
1/30 - Alta
 

wa-loaf

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Alta was nice enough yesterday. Snow is decent but the trails could be east coast ... there is some good soft stuff in the trees and off the beaten path. If they don't get anything soon it will be tough. Some deal with the Canyons today. Trails - meh, but found a couple nice trees runs with good snow.
 

Creakyknees

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Cold, Windy, and Snowing

Thanks for the reports. My group and I decided to reschedule the trip to early March. For my group and I it's all about the mountain being cold, windy, and snowing and this week at Snowbird doesn't look good for that. We will take our chances at the beginning of March.
 

ScottySkis

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Thanks for the reports. My group and I decided to reschedule the trip to early March. For my group and I it's all about the mountain being cold, windy, and snowing and this week at Snowbird doesn't look good for that. We will take our chances at the beginning of March.

Just go higher elevation . lower elevation could bring north east typically condions.
 

St. Bear

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Snowbird is definitely a mixed bag. There is soft snow to be found, but it's in the expert areas where there are the fewest people. And even there it's like 50/50 bulletproof/soft snow.
 

St. Bear

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Completely unrelated to snow conditions, but Snowbird is the ugliest ski resort I've ever been to. It looks like it's straight out of the Soviet Block with all the exposed concrete.
 
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